Poster Session B

Date/Time: 
Saturday, May 6, 2023 - 9:00am to 12:00pm
(ADT)
Room: 
Kluskap B
Presentations
09:00 AM: Archaeology and the Landscape of Grand Pré – Managing a UNESCO World Heritage Site in a Spirit of Collaboration, Partnership and Multiple Perspectives
Presentation format: In-Person
Author(s):
  • Catherine Cottreau-Robins - Nova Scotia Museum
  • Heather MacLeod-Leslie - Kwilmu'kw Maw-klusuaqn Negotiations Office (KMKNO)
  • Claude DeGrace - Landscape of Grand Pre Inc.

UNESCO World Heritage sites are recognized as having Outstanding Universal Value (OUV) for humanity as a whole. This means they have cultural and/or natural significance which is so exceptional as to transcend national boundaries and to be of common importance for present and future generations everywhere. The archaeological heritage of the landscape of Grand Pré, in the Kings County, Nova Scotia portion of Mi’kma’ki, is a key element of the OUV and one of the reasons for it being recognized internationally. There is a great diversity of archaeological sites in the landscape associated with the Mi’kmaq, the Acadians, the New England Planters and more. This poster aims to describe the collaborative and interdisciplinary framework in place for the management and development of archaeology in this remarkable place. Key to moving the archaeology forward is an approach that relies on multiple voices at the planning table. 2023 marks the renewal of the Strategy for the Management and Conservation of Archaeological Heritage in the Landscape of Grand Pré (inscribed 2012).  It is important to reflect on the changes to the strategy, the advancement of archaeology, and to highlight the stronger role of the Mi’kmaw voice in decision-making, planning and upcoming research.

09:00 AM: Assessing Gorget Variation in the Royal Ontario Museum’s Antiquarian Collections
Presentation format: In-Person
Author(s):
  • Tiziana Gallo - Royal Ontario Museum, Ontario Archaeology
  • Eileen Bethune - Centennial College, Museum and Cultural Management
  • Derek Moreno Ordonez - North Toronto Collegiate Institution

Gorgets are an enigmatic and understudied category of tabular groundstone objects found throughout eastern North America. Popular among antiquarians from the late 19th to mid-20th century, their accompanying information rarely includes more than broad find spots and name of collector. While the eventual finding of gorgets in better documented contexts helped propose culture-historical associations, the variety observed in collections surpasses known types. Functions suggested over time (e.g. ornaments, armguards, ceramic tools) remain hypothetical and unverified. In this poster, we present the methods we use to revisit a collection of over six hundred so-called gorgets found throughout southern Ontario and now in the Royal Ontario Museum`s antiquarian collections. These methods include re-categorizing gorgets according to attributes that highlight their various morphologies and defining their stone types and properties. We also identify traces that speak of gestures involved in their shaping and use, of their relations with other materials, and of their specific trajectories. Provenience information (Township and/or County) allows us to map gorgets according to their find place and retrace their connections to Indigenous people in the present. By better understanding where gorget differences and similarities are situated, more nuanced stories can be told of these highly varied objects.

09:00 AM: Backdirtand Bureaucracy: a statistical analysis of 35 years of New Brunswick archaeological permit data and policy change
Presentation format: In-Person
Author(s):
  • Trevor Dow - University of New Brunswick

Christopher Turnbull, New Brunswick’s first provincial archaeologist, cautioned in 1977 that
once archaeology entered the political arena those responsible for its management were no
longer archaeologists and researchers, but employees of a bureaucratic system where all
decisions are ultimately made at the political level. Government policy plays a pivotal role in
the management of archaeological research as legislation and guidelines developed by
governments establish a framework for the conservation of archaeological resources and
prescribes the information required to be documented. While Canadian legislation and
guidelines vary across the country, all jurisdictions have a system in place for permitting
archaeological investigations. In NB, Archaeological Services Branch (ASB) is the provincial
regulatory body responsible for the management of archaeological resources, the permitting
of fieldwork, and the creation and implementation of policy. Since all archaeological fieldwork
in NB requires a permit, permit data are a useful tool for tracking the volume and types of
archaeological fieldwork being conducted over an extended period. This information can be
analyzed over time and compared with major changes in government policy to identify the
shifting nature of NB’s archaeology discipline.

09:00 AM: Beyond Basic Zooarchaeological Analyses: A Preliminary Catalogue of Skeletal Remains with Pathological Conditions in the UTM Comparative Faunal Collection
Presentation format: In-Person
Author(s):
  • Nina Le - University of Toronto Mississauga
  • Ya Qi Mo - University of Toronto Mississauga
  • Trevor Orchard - University of Toronto Mississauga
  • Michael Brand - University of Toronto Mississauga

The Deborah J. Berg Faunal Collection resides in the Department of Anthropology at the University of Toronto Mississauga and serves as a comparative library for teaching purposes and zooarchaeological identification. The collection was largely created by Debbie Berg during her more than 25-year tenure as the departmental technician. Following her retirement in 2014, the collection has been overseen and expanded by the current technician, Dr. Trevor Orchard. The collection now contains over 1500 individual animal skeletons and represents more than 460 species. Numerous specimens exhibit intriguing pathological lesions, but this data was never previously catalogued systematically. The goal of this project was to better document pathological specimens in the collection to facilitate teaching and research related to skeletal pathology. A reference catalogue was created through visual observation and photographic documentation. A total of 60 specimens (35 mammals, 19 birds, and 6 reptiles and amphibians) were documented with evidence of pathological conditions. This poster summarizes the results and highlights some of the interesting pathological specimens encountered during the project. 

09:00 AM: Marginalized Visibility: Scrutinizing the Digital Representation of Indigenous Peoples at Red Bay National Historic Site, Labrador, and L’Anse aux Meadows National Historic Site, Newfoundland
Presentation format: In-Person
Author(s):
  • Jared T. Hogan - Memorial University

Until recently, narratives rooted in colonial ideology have been perpetuated through Newfoundland and Labrador (NL) history classes and public heritage initiatives, spotlighting settler histories surrounding the migratory fishery and colonial expansion into the "New World" over Indigenous heritage. This lack of Indigenous visibility in heritage contributes to the problematic historical narrative that discredits the presence of Indigenous peoples in NL before and after colonization and de-legitimizes Indigenous groups' historical knowledge. This poster summarizes a project assessing the extent to which Indigenous cultures are represented in the virtual heritage of two Canadian National Historic Sites located in NL: 1) Red Bay, Labrador, and 2) L'Anse aux Meadows, Newfoundland. Digital media analysis is applied to websites and digital documents (e.g., reports and applications) to capture Indigenous visibility in the virtual heritage of these sites. These sites are scrutinized for just Indigenous representation (i.e., using appropriate terminology and Indigenous-led exhibitions) in line with principles of restorative justice, responsible exhibition, and community and Indigenous archaeologies. Recommendations for moving toward responsible Indigenous representation are provided.

09:00 AM: Repatriation as Ceremony: Building a Proactive and Indigenous-led Process at the University of Manitoba
Presentation format: In-Person
Author(s):
  • Chelsea H. Meloche - University of Manitoba

In Canada, the return of Indigenous ancestors, their belongings, and other heritage materials has typically occurred on a case-specific basis. Many museums have developed internal repatriation policies to guide this work; however, such policies are often firmly embedded in a legal framework that keeps decision-making power with the holding institution. Thus, while the case-specific approach to repatriation in Canada has been flexible enough to respond to claims from diverse Indigenous Nations, it can also perpetuate a colonial imbalance of power. For repatriation to truly be a decolonizing and transformative practice, a rethinking of these processes is necessary. Since 2020, the University of Manitoba has been working towards a proactive and Indigenous-led approach to rematriation and repatriation. Guided by a Council of Indigenous Elders, Grandmothers, Grandfathers, and Knowledge Keepers, the Respectful Rematriation and Repatriation Ceremony has sought an alternate, relational process to return Ancestors, belongings, and other heritage. This poster will explore what this has meant for related questions around collections management, policy development, and funding.

09:00 AM: The Importance of Reindeer to the Sami of Northern Norway in Both Past and Present
Presentation format: In-Person
Author(s):
  • Cassidy  Wambold - Institute of Prairie and Indigenous Archaeology, University of Alberta

Reindeer have held a deeply cultural significance to the Indigenous Sami peoples of Northern Norway both in past archaeological contexts and modern day contexts. In past and modern contexts, reindeer have remained to be an important part of Sami folklore, art and resources for their communities. For this poster presentation I will further discuss the importance of reindeer in a past archaeological viewpoint and discuss how reindeer further remain to be an important part of modern day Sami culture. I will also be addressing how the loss of deeply important herding lands for the Sami has been affecting this Indigenous community and their protesting efforts in order to achieve agency and land back.